Since when did becoming a lobbyist warrant a congratulations? Isn't that sort of like congratulating a tick for being the first of its kind to latch onto an otherwise healthy dog? Once again, I find it impossible to fathom the mind of a Republican...

I know. It's an artifact of Twitter hashtag confusion, but I couldn't just abandon those contest winners over something as subjective as mere relevance. Plus, the corn people have sort of become family now, like that weird old guy that has done odd jobs for various family members over the years earning him a seat at the Thanksgiving table.

Chamber lobbyists and the committee chairs describe the plan as one that calls for shared sacrifice from businesses and workers. And while it’s true that some businesses will play slightly higher taxes for a few years, those tax increases are temporary. Many businesses will pay lower unemployment taxes under the plan.

Laid off workers, meanwhile, will receive lower weekly unemployment benefits and the duration of the benefits will be reduced—and those cuts are permanent.

Once again, I feel compelled to ask those who voted for Republicans: Is this what you expected? What you wanted? That your friends and family who have suffered a job loss would be forced to suffer even more, possibly to the point where the very roof over their heads may be lost? If so, I hope you have the balls to tell them that to their faces. That they're lazy and complacent and need a dose of "tough love" to get them working again. If this is not what you wanted, then do something about it.

Just to give you a glimpse into the madness percolating in right-wing nut-job land, a Marine officer created a survey for about 300 of his troops back in the mid-nineties, which contained several questions including the one above about firing on American citizens who won't give up their guns. It wasn't a DoD thing, it was written by a guy who was apparently slower than his troops, which is saying quite a bit (sorry, James). Since then, it has been paraded around by paranoid New World Order Is Coming! nut clusters as evidence that they're not crazy. By writing this I am probably providing evidence that I'm part of the conspiracy, but that's a risk I'll take.

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underthedome 2:46pm via twitterfeed Shanahan picks ex-FBI agent to help run Dpt. of Public Safety: New state Department of Public Safety Secretary K... bit.ly/XJvLPl

Which leads to a story:

New state Department of Public Safety Secretary Kieran Shanahan has named former FBI agent Frank Perry to be his interim chief operating officer.
Perry was a well-known federal law enforcement officer when he ran the FBI's Raleigh office around the time of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and later through his work with the state auditor and the state Ethics Commission. He also co-founded a foundation for ethics in public service.

But there's no reference in this article to Perry's association with Art Pope, so it appears the problems I bitched about 3 1/2 years ago are still with us:

Before I get into the details of this new entity, I have a few words of advice for our local media. You have a choice: you can engage in investigative journalism, or you can be a public relations pawn. It took me like five minutes to figure out who is behind this foundation, and by not mentioning this in your article, ABC Local has shown they either a) aren't aware of the Art Pope network, b) are aware but don't know how to make connections, or c) understood the connection but chose to not report it. Here's a clue: none of these options are stellar recommendations for professional journalists.

SSDD. And you professional journos wonder why we seem to obsess over Art Pope? Maybe it's because you've got a big-ass blind spot where he's concerned.

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